Driving mechanism.



E. S. CHURCH.

DRIVING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED FBB.13,1908.

Patented June 2, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

E. S. CHURCH.

DRIVING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION IILEI) P131343. 190a,

1,099,1 1 6. Patented June 2,1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2 QXMmme/a @Hgowag E. S. CHURCH.

DRIVING MECHANISM.

APPLIGATION FILED mums, 1908.

11 099 1 Patented June 2, 1914 4 SHEET *BHEET 3.

wi/lmmw -B. S. CHURCH.

DRIVING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED PEB.13,190B.

1 099 1 1 6. Patented June 2, 1914.

4 SHEETSSHEBT 4.

I Wow mg UNITED STAT S,

himmm t; Gt-W'WKQF hA-YWN, time.

hmvme MEOHAMW.

Toalt whom timely) concern he itknown that l; EDMUND E. Emmott,

a eitlzeri of the United States; welding at Doytoi'i, in the county of Montgomery and 8mm of Ohio, have iiiveirtecl oorhvinnew' vicoe whereby any (leeired ratio of trantmisv till been experienced.

.sion may be obtained "without the one at change geerew Another ohjoet is to proviole t1 trommission mechanism adapted to work many desired variable ratio vmcl including; air e'uel'b inning olevicee whereby all jar due to ehe ge in ratio or to ehnngo in opeerl oi? the prime mover is obviated.

A further object is to pl'oviole at traliemis sioh mechanism which will also serve WE o fly wheel or governor for theprime mover thereby loosening the total weight aml met of the meehenimn.

Another olojeet is to simplify the mowereal ratio transmissions how in use to refluce the coat of the number of portal anal to prevent frequent 'hreok-olowns such as have With these Ell'lflincidental objects in view the invention oormiete in certain hovel fea tures of eonsltrhetion and combinations of parts, the eesentiololemente of which are set fiorth in op ended claims and o-prelerreol form of emh imont 0t which is hereinafter (leeerihorl with reference to the drhwinge which eeeompany will form part of this specification.

0f said drum-lingo: Figure 1 is a side view of am automobile frame showingthe inven; tion applied thereto. Fig.9.. is atop glen oi the ports shown in Fig. l in elevation but with a, clutch. mechanism shown in motion Fig. 3 is; 11 vertical section throhgh the transmission moehoniem with some. porte shown in elevation. Fig. t is e'verticul section through the transmission 'meehahiem ehcl at right angles to the plume of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is it detail of m connecting link.

The invention is ehown in the drawings and will he described, as adopted to an auto.-

' inobile but it is to flee utltlerstood hml will be re dlily tpporent llllflipithi fil is only one of many ilees to which itmoy heappliotllig J The advantages of thexprhilhhtfl ihvelitlllm PATENT (JFFICE.

Specification ct littt'er's latent. h imomi him Felmlery it, 1968. term on. tutti.

l atonted Julio ft, 19M.

may he goinerlhy its use with imy mechanism where it is llesirecl to rlrive the some through some prime mover hot at st varying.

ratio of rerluetion or iitoreaee of epeecl.

The invention oompvieee a cylinder or o plurli-lity of eylirlrlero heviligo piston or pistons which are eormvetecl through mljnet able devices to e trmoemiseion shaft. The adjuetahle oonhectioho may he so varied at to change the level-a o of the epplie'cl row on the oylinders, all at the some time this;

serves incidentally to Bhlltfl o the satroizoof the pistons and to there y change the amount of compression of the fluid, mentally slit, which is in the eylihclers wall. thereby to author vary the moment of ower transmitted. This construction prov-ideoin ofiect a universal ratio transmissionmechanism in as mlieh as e eimple movement'of the adjust v ahle parts determines theleveruge exerted by the prime mover on the driven mechahism, that ie, it proclucoe the identical eli'eet of the oompliooted change Baring constructiont now employed. lieol es the advantage of simplicity of cenetruetion of this univereel ratio, there ie'proclueed the mlfl-it-ionol acivsmtege that there is no jaw profiu'oed in changing from one ratio of tranemission to another, this being clue tothe air cuehion mechanism employed. It it to be uhderetood that any euitolelo compressible fluid may be used, air being chosen nsthe simplest. In fact it would serve to use any other yielrlingly eompreusihleiheclium, possessing a substan tiol o'riiouht of compressibility, intervening hetwee the pistons and the cylinders, that is between the driving zmd the driven mem hers. Air is aelecteel he a preferable optingooinpreseible medium to transmit the power from the driving to the driven member. It is ilrtimllarly in this respect, that the device difiere from one using an incompressible fluid, ouch as Water, Where complicated mechanisms must be employed for limping greater or less amounts; of Water. the eonotruction is not to shown herein, a. eimple ehcl obvioue reversal... of parts will rovide e mechanism wherein the inertia of he rotating ports of the troriemiseion will serve as e iv-Wheel for the prime mover thereby doing away with the unnecessary weight and cost otthe regular fiy-whe'eh Ae'tlie construction is shown, the methohism is adeptecl not only to transmit power,

hill: to act as a brake hythe simple movin of the clutch lever. When the mechgi xiem lthough is driving, compression is produced in the cylinders and the power thus transmitted through the intervening compressed air medium serves to drive the machine. The stopping of the driving part of the device will .cause the compression to still take place but in an opposite ratio and direction thereby producing a powerful braking effect. It is to be noted, moreover, that the braking effect is in precise ratio to the speed at which the machine is being driven and will therefore tend to stop the mechanism after a certain constant number of turns have been given or a certain constant distance has been covered.

Referring now to the drawings a specific description may be given of the parts, prefaced however, by a general statement of the automobile construction which is old in the art. The invention is applied to a four cylinder machine of a well known type but it will be understood that this is merely'for purposes of illustration and that the invention may be applied to any form of automobile and in fact to entirely distinct types of mechanism. The engine cylinders 10 drive through a shaft 11, one member 12 of a disk clutch. Adapted to be forced intofrictional contact with the'member 12 isa movable member 13 moving between thr part 12 of the clutch and a stationary com lementary friction member 14, carried by tl iemachine frame. The movable part 13- is splined on i a transmission shaft 15 which is connected through the improved transmission mechanism, indicated 1n general by numeral 16, to

V the rear driving axle 17. A reversing lever 18 connected through a link 19 to a hand lever 20 may be the same as ordinarily employed in automobiles. The moving part 13 ,of the clutch is carried by a sleeve splined to the transmission shaft 15 so as to rotate therewith but to be permitted aslight longitudinal movement thereon. This longitudinal movement is provided by a collar 22 ina circular groove 23 in which a lever 24: operates, this lever being adapted to be moved b the foot of the passenger so as to provi e both, a. neutral position for the moving member '13 in which it will engage neither the driving member 12 nor the stationary member 14 and a rearward position in which it is positively forced against the rear member 14. The clutching action, that is, the contacting ofthe member 13 with the driving member 12-is produced by any usual spring 25 or' other desired mechanism.

It was stated that the transmission mechanism was indicated by reference numeral 16 and its position relative to the rest of the mechanism will be seen from Figs. 1 and 2. It may-be here stated, however, that this is not its only possible position and in fact many advantages may be obtained from placing it much nearer the clutch parts whereby the .fly wheel efi'ect may be produced by the transmission mechanism and its supporting casing.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4, the driving shaft 15 has mounted rigidly thereon a crank arm 31 to the distal end of which is pivoted a link 32 at a point 33. This link is provided with a laterally extending arm 34, best shown in Fig. 5, on a pin 36 carried by which are pivoted three piston rods 37 rigidly mounted to pistons 38 which reciprocate in cylinders 39. These cylinders are pivoted at 40 to the main casing 4-1 of the mechanism so as to rotate therewith but to be capable of an oscillation relative thereto. The link 32 is provided with a downwardl extending projection 41 at the bottom of which is a pin carrying an anti-friction roller 42 riding in a cam grooi e 43 on a box cam 44 which normally rotates with the transmission shaft 15. The casing 41 is rigidly supported by and rotates a second transmission shaft 46 which as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is connected in any desired or usual manner with the rear driving axle of the machine.

It will be readily seen that if the transmission shaft 15 is rotated by the engine or by any prime mover that an equal rotation of crank 31 will be produced. A pull of crank 31 on link 32 serves, in as much as the roller 42 is rigidly held in cam groove 43, to alternately compress and release'the fluid in the cylinders 39 in succession. In the drawin s three cylinders are shown but this is mere y by way of illustration and any number of cylinders may be employed. Assuming the mechanism to be in the position of Fig. 3 and the shaft 15 being rotated the sectioned piston 38 will have compressed the air in cylinder 39 which will -thereby drive the casing 41 and the transmission shaft 46. This driving force will become greater as the compression is increased until the mechanism is in such position that the piston rod 37 is in a direct radial line from the shaft 15 after which time further movement of shaft 15 will serve to lower the pressure in the sectioned cylinder 39 and to increase the pressure in the cylinder at the top of the figure. This operation will repeat itself in rapid succession and with the number of cylinders shown the driving effect is prac-' in the position of Fig. 3 the highest ,com- 1 pression in cylinder 39 has already been produced and the fluid therein is expanding the direction of rotation being shown by arrows onFig. 3. a This would produce a back re-action on the casing 41 and consequently tend 'to rotate the casingl reversal But with the parts as shown in Fig. 3, .t e com:

ression in c linder 39, balances that in 39?.

herefore, i the driving pin 36 is at rest, these two compressions wouldstay'balan'ced 25 of applied power somethin income jues as if they were two opposimly acting time, the retreating of the driving pin 36 from the cylinder 39, allows the'com resscd Iai'r in the cylinder 39 to. expand. he result is of course, the transmission of the driving power from hhe pin 36 ihimigh the cylinder 39, or rather its inclosc d com-pressed air, to the casing 41. Furthermore, as soon as the in 36' begins lfo leavelihe dead center point or the upper or third cylinder, it

* then cylinder and, likewise to transmit rotary driving force through saidcylinder. It will be understood, that the real rotary drivin V force'of the driving pin- 36, is due to sue l :position of the pin as tomake its direction other than a radial direction, that is, ra ial with refer ence to the casing ll. For example, when the pin 36 is 0d" of the radial, line between the shaft 15 and the pivotal int 40 of the cylinder, the driving push 0. the pin 36 on the c lind'cr pivot 40, ma be resolved into [a rac'lial'and a tangentia force, 'the lahter being the force which rotates the casing 41. This reall amounts to gcttinga leverage onthc casing ll, for the a phcalion of as driving power of pin 36. his leverage "changessuccessively for each cylinder from minimum to maximum and back to minimum, whenever the pin 36 is traveling in a All; determined circular path at a fixed distance I firom' the shaft l5; and furthermore, this (leverage may be increased as will later be explained, loyincreasing the distance of the pin 36 f rom the'shaft 15, that is, increasing 45' the raditisgof its circular travel. It will be seen hyfstud "mg the various clients at various pariso a turn that although the drive eiiect is not absolutely constant it is nevertheless approximately so, much more, so than is thefcasow-ith a single cylinder drive motor.

Thcprc'ldciis description explains how the driving ellipsis produced but with the construction fliugs'far disclosed only a constant ratio of transmission would be obtained. To

provide the universal ratio before referred Y to is theohjcct of the cam disk 44.

.As shown in Fig. 1 a lever 51 is provided convenient to lhe operator and this is con nccted through any desired means, here so "shown, a shaft 52 and a crank arm 53 thereomto a link 54 serving "to oscillates lever 55. The lever 55 atltsonsward end ic provided with a rollervor pin movinglim [a circular groove of acollarlll which is anemones e sle efilmss t y 'lation oh cam 44 will codes the linlr 32' to begins to compress the air within said a spline to the transmission silo-fl: 15 so that the sleeve 59 may slide along the shaft, 15 but must nevertheless rotate with it. Out in s1'eeve59 is a cylindrical cam groove c1 in which rides a pin 62 rigidly fastened to a longitudinal sleeve supporting the camdish 4 4. From this description it will be clear vthins movemen(a of the lever 51- will slide the sleeve 59* along the transmission shaft 15. Assuming that the transmission shaft 15' is stationary this longitudinal movemenl, oi sleeve 59 will clearly rotate the cam disk 44 throw h the cylindrical groove 61. and pin 62'. i; will" be evident from Big; 3 that roapproach or recedc from the radial line of i crank arm In the position of Fig. 3 roller 4-2 is in the extreme outer part of groove43 and the ivot point 36 is thereby at its greatest possi le distance-from the center of shaft 15. If cam disk 44 isrotated in ,a clockwise direction as seen in Fig 3, the 'pivot point 36 will he gradually raised and when the roller 42 engages lihe other enlremn end oi the groove 43 which position is shown in dotted lines the pivot point 36 will be we cisely in line with the shaft 15. In this last mentioned position of the parts no driving effect Whatever is produced as no compression is given in the cylinders. in intermediate positions greater or less compression is produced in the cylinders and greater or less leverage of the driving force precisely in proportion toihe distance from the line of shaft 15 which is given to pivot pin 36. ll will be evident from this description that the mechanism performs the desired function of a universal ratio transmission in a very'simplfe and at the same time very effective'manner. The mere throwing oi the lever 51 serves to position the pivot pin 36 at any point within its extreme range and thereby determines precisely the ion h of stroke of pistons 38 and conscquenty the compression produced in the cylinders 39, 110 and particularly changing the leverage applied by the driving power through the pin 36 upon the pivotal points of the cylinders, this increased leverage serving to transmit grealer power to the driven casing 41..

The mechanism was described as if the parts were standing-still but-it will be ovidcnl; that whether shall; 15 is rotating or standing still, movement of lever 51 will ,7

will: produce. afshifting oi: the position of 130 pivot pin 2-36 and a consequent variation in the driving force produced. The valves (31, one of which is shown in each of the cylinders are merely for the purpose of letting in any fluid which may be necessary to replace leakage past the pistons 38. It will be clear from the shape of the valves (31 that the con'ipressing movement of pistons 38 will cause them to seat and to permit no escape of fluid. In the case where air is used the exhausting movement of pistons 38 will if any air leaks past the piston serve to lower the pressure inside the compression cylinder to an amount lower than the usual atmospheric pressure when outside air will immediately enter through the valves of. If a fluid other than air is employed some other equivalent mechanism would be necessary to' counteract any leakage.

As the mechanism is shown, the transmitting shaft 15 is connected to the cylinder pistons and the cylinders are directly fastened to the second transmitting shaft 46,

but it is to be noted that this mechanism is entirely reversible and such reversal is considered to be within the present invention. Assuming-that shaft 46 is the one driven from the prime mover it \vill'be clear that the casing 41 and cylinders 39 will then be rotated at a speed equal to that of the engine. If the pivot pin 36 is precisely in line with the shaft 15 which would then become the secondv transmitting shaft no effect will be produced, but if cam 44 is moved to withdraw the pivot point 36 from the line of shaft 15 the movement of cylinders 39 will then cause.compression of the fluid therein and produce a driving effecton the link 32 and crank 31 which may be communicated to the driven mechanism. It will be evident that to cause this reversal absolutely no changes are necessary exceptpossibly a mere change in the position 'of the mechanism. This second described form has, moreover, some advantages over the first form among which may be mentioned the fact that the rotating casing 41 and the cylinders 23!) mounted thereon will produce a very decided fly-whcel effect in the prime mover. Tn fact. the combined weight of the mechanism might be made practically enough to do away wit-h the necessity of the usual fly-wheel entirely. In such a eonstruction the casing 41 would be moved from the position of the figures in; dircctlyin the rear of the clutch and possibly some supporting piece from the side frame of the machine would be advisable. This reversal as'above stated is distinctly within the present invention and the claims herein are notto be limited to the present form.

The clutch mechanism was described combined clutching and braking device and it will be seen that this braking action also depends on the transmission cylinders and sembled.

the connected parts. liith the moving member 13 in the position of Fig. 2, the ordinary clutch action is produced but if pedal lever 24 is used the moving member 13 may be engaged with the stationary member 14 thereby stopping movement of the transmitting shaft 15. \Vhen the shaft 15 is stopped thus, it does not serve to immediately stop the shaft n; but. it does immediately reverse the action of the cylinders 39 and connected parts. he the case under the described conditions the cylinders 39 then rotate, due to the inertia of the moving mechanism and a very decided braking effect is produced due to the compression in the cylinders. It is, moreover, to be noted that this braking effectis vhigher the faster the cylinders are running and has in reality precisely a direct ratio to their speed of movement. It therefore followsdhat the faster the machine is running the greater will he the braking efi'ect so that the machine will be stopped in nearly the same time or distance no matter at what speed it was running. It will be noted that; the braking action when shaft 15 is the driving shaft is identical with the driving action when shaft 46 is the driving shaft, so that the braking action really provides the reversal of ope 'ation which was above re- If the crank 31 is stationary would ferred to. i The braking etfect may evidently be increased or diminished by movement of the cam 44 in precisely the same way as'the drive effect is increased or diminished so that although the mechanism will have a braking etl'ect proportional to its speed under normal conditions, the braking effect may neverthelesss be increased or diminished at will by a simple movement of lever 51.

Many advantages of themechanism have been referred to in the description, and it will be evident that the transmission is much simpler than that usually employed consisting of shifting gears and is less liable to break down. The parts are few in number and of simple construction so that they may be cheaply and easily made and readily as' The advantages of the universal ratio are obtained and at the same time the great advantage of lack of jar in shifting from one gear to another is entirely obviated as the change may be as gradual as desired.

The means preferred for varying the compression in the cylinder may be changed and many other forms used without avoidin the invention as the invention is not considered to reside in the particular form em loyed but to include any means whereby t 9 machine is driven through an air cushion with means for varying the amount of compression or compression etfect. in the device. It is to be miderstood therefore, that'the claims including this part of the mechanism are toby the prior art.

neonate What is claimed is as follows:

1. In a driving mechanism, the combina tion with a power transmission shaft, of a plurality of cylinders having istons therein, a second transmission sha t and means carried thereby for pivotally supporting said cylinders, a'crank rigid on-said first shaft, a link connecting the distal end of said crank to said pistons, a hand operated device for swinging the link around the distal end of said crank to vary the radial distance of said piston connections fromthe first shaft, and a mechanism driven from one of said shafts.

- 2. In a-driving mechanism, the combination with'a power transmission shaft, of a plurality of cylinders having pistons therem, a second transmission shaft and means carried by said second shaft for pivotally supporting said cylinders a crank on said first shaft, a link pivoted to said pistons and to the distal end of said crank, a cam carried by and moved normally with said first shaft butcapable of movement relative to said shaft, connections whereby the relative movement of said cam serves to vary the position of the pivotal connection between said link and said pistons relative to said first shaft, a hand operated device for giving the said cam its movement relative to the first shaft, a prime mover for driving one of said transmission shafts, and a mech anism driven by the other of said shafts.

3. In a driving mechanism, the combinat-ion with a driving member, of a plurality of com ression cylinders each having a piston an constructed to confine a body of air ahead of the piston, connections between said driving member and pistons, and means for varying the osition of said connections relative to said riving member and to said cylinders in a, direction to increase or decrease the leverage of the driving member on said cylinders, and mechanism connected to anddriven from said cylinders.

4. In a driving mechanism, the combination with a power transmitting shaft, of a plurality of cylinders eachhavin a piston and constructed to confine a body of air ahead of the piston, a carrier upon which saidcylinders are mounted with connec.

tions between said carrier anda driven member; a common piston connection between said power shaft and said plurality of pis tons; and manipulative means for changing the position of said common piston connection to vary the leverage transmitted by the power shaft to the cylinders and to the driven member.

5. In a driving mechanism, the combination with a power shaft, of a driven shaft, a rotary carrier connected with said driven shaft; a plurality of cylinders mounted circumferentially on said carrier, each of said cylinders being constructed to confine a body of air ahead of its piston; common operating connection to which the cylinder pistons are all-united; connections between the power shaft and said common operating connection for moving the latter in a circular path with reference to said cylinders and concentrically to said power shaftand means for shifting the position of sai com mon operatin connection to increase or dc crease the ra ius of its circular travel and thereby to simultaneously increase and de crease both the levera e of-the power shaft on the cylinders and t e compression of the air there Within. n

6. In a driving mechanism,-thc combination with a driving member, of a plurality of power transmitting devices each of which comprises a primary and a secondary ele ment. co-acting with each other and an in tervening elastic compressible medium; connections between the said driving member and each. of said primary elements; means for varying the leverage position of said connections relative to said driving member and to said power transmitting devices in a direction to increase or decrease the leverage of the driving member on said devices; and a driven mechan sm connected to said secondary elements of said power transmit tin r devices.

ll testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

EDMUND S. CHURCH. 

